International Trader - Asia

Japan: Attractive Again?

Bulls on Tokyo say this selloff is a buying opportunity.

LAST OCTOBER, HAJIME KITANO was very bearish and looking very wrong. Kitano, then a top-ranked strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, carped to Barron's that bullish sentiment on Japanese stocks was misplaced, in view of the possible reversal in Japan's business cycle, and that Japanese shares ought to fall 15%. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index marched higher instead, closing the year up 40%.